POV: Fallen City

The rebuilding of earthquake-devastated Bichaun, China is a heartbreaking experience for survivors.

In today’s go-go China, an old city completely destroyed by a devastating earthquake can be rebuilt — boasting new and improved civic amenities — in an astoundingly quick two years.

But, as “Fallen City” reveals, the journey from the ruined old city of Beichuan to the new Beichuan nearby is long and heartbreaking. Three families struggle with loss — most strikingly the loss of children and grandchildren — and feelings of loneliness, fear and dislocation that no amount of propaganda can disguise. First-time director Qi Zhao offers an intimate look at a country torn between tradition and modernity.

Top photo: A half-standing building, four months after the earthquake.